SECTOR 2: Bentinck Island
Aerial Maps Courtesy of the CRD Natural Areas Atlas
Link to History of Names and Early Use of the Island as a Leper colony on Bentinck Island
1. South Entrance
to Eemdyk Pass
- The south side of Bentinck Island with Race Rocks in the foreground
- The cleared field is part of the DND facility
- Entering the Bay inside of Christopher Point.
2.South Bentinck Island
- The Doctor’s House from when this was a leper colony, still stands just up from the military docks on Bentinck Island
- This is pilot bay n the south East side of Bentinck Island. The shipwreck Barnard Castle lies in these waters.
. 3. Central
Bays and east lobe of Bentinck
- View north through Eemdyk Pass. At low tide you can almost walk across this passage. Moon snail egg cases are found on the sandy bottom
- The east lobe of Bentinck Island, viewed from the East.
- View looking to the north with Pedder Bay in the upper right distance.
4.Central
Island in Eemdyk Passage
- The vegetation on this island is pristine with native plants, since it has never been grazed. The trees are mostly stunted from the effects of salt spray from winds from the west. For instance, one large Garry Oak hugs the sloping rise on the western side, less than a metre from the ground but 10 metres long. The only human evidence is a burial cairn and a power pole.
- Eemdyk Passage. At slack tide the Nereocystis leutkeana floats on the surface. When the current gets to 5 knots, it is dragged down..
- The island in the centre of the channel with the hydro pole on it . This has remarkable examples of Krumholtz vegetation, with exposure to the salt spray from storms in the Strait.
- Going through the channel, Race Rocks shows up briefly over the isthmus of the three lobes of the island.
The MetchosinMarine website has been created to represent the contiguous ecosystems of the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve/Marine Protected Area and for the use of the Green Blue Spaces sub committee of the Metchosin Environmental Advisory Select Committee (MEASC). Copyright: G.Fletcher 2013 ( garryf (use at) gmail.com)